Zach Aston-Reese
Zachary Aston-Reese (born August 10, 1994) is an American professional ice hockey forward for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL).
| Zach Aston-Reese | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Aston-Reese with the Penguins in 2018 | |||
| Born |
August 10, 1994 Staten Island, New York, U.S. | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) | ||
| Weight | 204 lb (93 kg; 14 st 8 lb) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Shoots | Left | ||
| NHL team | Pittsburgh Penguins | ||
| NHL Draft | Undrafted | ||
| Playing career | 2017–present | ||
Prior to turning professional, Aston-Reese played for Northeastern University. He was named a Hobey Baker hat trick finalist, Hockey East First-Team All-Star, and won Hockey East Player of the Year.
Playing career
Early career
While playing for the New Jersey Rockets of the Atlantic Junior Hockey League (AJHL) during the 2010–11 season, Aston-Reese also appeared in the United States Hockey League (USHL). He played two games for the Des Moines Buccaneers, as well as 25 games for the Lincoln Stars.
Aston-Reese joined the Stars full-time for the 2011–12 season. In 53 games, he recorded 5 goals and 10 assists.
After one more season with the Stars, Aston-Reese joined the Division 1 Northeastern Huskies. He played for the club for four seasons. During the 2015–16 season, the Huskies won the Hockey East Tournament championship.[1]
The following season, Aston-Reese was named to the Hockey East First All-Star Team, NCAA Division 1 First All-American Team, and the Hockey East Player of the Year.[2]
Pittsburgh Penguins
On March 14, 2017, Aston-Reese (as an undrafted player) signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins.[3] He joined the Penguins American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for the remainder of the season, recording eight points in ten games.
Aston-Reese started the 2017–18 season in the minors, but made his NHL debut on February 3, 2018 against the New Jersey Devils.[4] He recorded his first two NHL goals in a 6–3 win over the Ottawa Senators on February 13.[5] On February 27, Aston-Reese suffered an upper-body injury during practice.[6] He returned to the Penguins' lineup on March 27 after missing 13 games.[7] Aston-Reese made his postseason debut on April 11, 2018 against the Philadelphia Flyers.[8] On April 18, he recorded his first career playoff point, assisting on a goal by Riley Sheahan.[9] During Game 3 of Round 2 against the Washington Capitals, Aston-Reese was checked by Tom Wilson, resulting in a broken jaw and a concussion.[10] Wilson was suspended three playoff games for the hit.[11]
Prior to the beginning of the 2018–19 season, Aston-Reese was reassigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.[12] However, he was called to the NHL on November 6, after he recorded six goals in 11 games.[13] Aston-Reese managed to score six goals and eleven points in his next thirty games, but he broke his hand in a game against the Florida Panthers on January 8, 2019.[14]
On July 22, 2019, the Penguins re-signed Aston-Reese to a two-year, $2 million contract extension.[15]
Personal life
His father is William Sr. and his mother is Carolyn née Buckheit. He has two older siblings: a sister and a brother named William Jr.[16]
Aston-Reese was a graphic design major in college and has occasionally worked in the Penguins' front office on the design of gameday programs.[17]
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2009–10 | New Jersey Rockets | AtJHL | 36 | 13 | 20 | 33 | 31 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 12 | ||
| 2010–11 | New Jersey Rockets | AtJHL | 25 | 9 | 20 | 29 | 65 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Des Moines Buccaneers | USHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Lincoln Stars | USHL | 25 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 2011–12 | Lincoln Stars | USHL | 35 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 69 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 2012–13 | Lincoln Stars | USHL | 60 | 9 | 21 | 30 | 113 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | ||
| 2013–14 | Northeastern University | HE | 35 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | Northeastern University | HE | 31 | 13 | 10 | 23 | 60 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | Northeastern University | HE | 41 | 14 | 29 | 43 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2016–17 | Northeastern University | HE | 38 | 31 | 32 | 63 | 72 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2016–17 | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins | AHL | 10 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017–18 | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins | AHL | 41 | 9 | 20 | 29 | 49 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017–18 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 16 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2018–19 | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins | AHL | 11 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2018–19 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 43 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 26 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2019–20 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 57 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 28 | |||||||
| NHL totals | 116 | 18 | 18 | 36 | 56 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||||
Awards and honors
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| USHL | ||
| USHL/NHL Top Prospects Game | 2012 | |
| College | ||
| HE Second All-Star Team | 2016 | [18] |
| HE All-Tournament Team | 2016 | |
| HE First All-Star Team | 2017 | [19] |
| HE Player of the Year | 2017 | |
| New England MVP | 2017 | [18] |
| AHCA East First-Team All-American | 2016–17 | [20] |
References
- "WEEKLY RELEASE: NORTHEASTERN WINS 2016 HOCKEY EAST TOURNAMENT TITLE". Hockey East Online. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
- "Zach Aston-Reese headlines 2017 Hockey East honors". Northeastern Huskies. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
- Mackey, Jason (March 14, 2017). "Penguins sign coveted college free agent Zach Aston-Reese to two-year deal". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Philadelphia. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
- "Penguins Recall Forward Zach Aston-Reese". NHL.com. Pittsburgh Penguins. February 3, 2018. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
- "Guentzel and Aston-Reese lead Pens past Sens". cbc.ca. February 13, 2018. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
- "Coach Sullivan on Aston-Reese: "Zach was not a healthy scratch last night yesterday he got hurt in practice." Coach adds that it is an upper-body injury and that he will be out "longer term"". Twitter. Retrieved February 28, 2018.
- "Welcome back to the lineup, @zreese11!". Twitter. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
- Lesko, Ty (April 26, 2018). "Many Pens debuted in Wednesday's Game 1 victory". NHL.com. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
- "pit-vs-phi gamecenter". nhl.com. April 18, 2018. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
- Sachdeva, Sonny (May 1, 2018). "Capitals' Wilson knocks Penguins' Aston-Reese out of Game 3 with high hit". sportsnet.ca. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
- "Capitals' Tom Wilson gets 3 games for hit on Penguins' Aston-Reese". CBC.ca. May 2, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
- "Penguins Assign Aston-Reese and Trotman to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton". NHL.com. October 1, 2018. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
- McCay, Jason (November 6, 2018). "Full of confidence, Zach Aston-Reese to return to NHL club". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
- Mackey, Jason (January 12, 2019). "Amid turnaround, Penguins gaining confidence as road warriors". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
- "Penguins Re-Sign Forward Zach Aston-Reese to a Two-Year Contract". Pittsburgh Penguins. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
- Crechiolo, Michelle (August 9, 2017). "Getting to Know: Zach Aston-Reese". NHL.com. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
- https://www.nhl.com/penguins/news/zach-aston-reese-icetime/c-305834660
- "Zach Aston-Reese". gonu.com. Northeastern Huskies. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
- "ZACH ASTON-REESE HEADLINES 2017 HOCKEY EAST HONORS". gonu.com. Boston: Northeastern Huskies. March 16, 2017. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
- "2016–2017 All-American Team". The American Hockey Coaches Association. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Kevin Boyle Thatcher Demko |
Hockey East Player of the Year 2016–17 |
Succeeded by Adam Gaudette |
| Preceded by Kyle Connor |
NCAA Ice Hockey Scoring Champion with Mike Vecchione and Tyler Kelleher 2016–17 |
Succeeded by Adam Gaudette |